Judith
by Rescue45
Summary: Starsky & Hutch arrive at Judith's just before she left her apartment. They had brushed her off at Fever the night before and felt bad about it. What they did next would change her outlook on herself and life forever.


Judith

Still dressed, Judith flopped on the bed and sobbed into the pillow. "Why, why, why? Am I really that ugly? I'm a nice person." No one heard her. No one was there to comfort her. She lived alone. She lived alone not because she wanted to, but because she had no one special in her life. She had a sister but she lived in New York and didn't have time for Judith.

She had been at Fever, the disco club, earlier in the evening and no one would dance with her, again. She couldn't understand why. She knew she wasn't that pretty and she was short but she had a good personality, or at least she thought she did until tonight.

In the past, she had tried sitting quietly at the bar slowly sipping a drink and wait for her prince in shining armor to ask her to dance. She pictured herself blushing slightly as she took his hand and went on the dance floor where they would win the contest and walk away with $50.00. The money wasn't that important to her, but winning or even being asked to dance meant the world to her. Judith was an excellent dancer but unfortunately, no one at the Fever knew that because she was never asked to dance. Once she stepped on the dance floor and started dancing alone. She felt like everyone was watching she danced her way back to her seat.

She cried herself to sleep. When she woke the next morning she called in sick to work, she didn't like her job anyway. She worked at a bridal shop. Day in and day out she helped young brides pick out that special dress, pick out that beautiful headpiece, order invitations and share in everyone's special day except her own. Her next move was to call her sister; it was already noon in New York. It was a Saturday morning and her sister would not be at work. She dialed the number and had to admit it was nice to hear her sister's voice on the other end. "Hello,"

"It's me, Judith. I just wanted to call and say hi."

"Judith, I'm running late. Paul, my new boyfriend is picking me up and we're going on a picnic in the park. Doesn't that sound sweet? He's so good to me. I'll call you when I get back." She giggled, "Or maybe tomorrow." She hung up before Judith could say anything else.

"Yeah, call me back. Only, I won't be here. I won't be anywhere." She put the black receiver back in the cradle. "I wish Ken and Dave would have danced with me last night. They seemed so nice." She started to pick up her purse, then set it back down. "I won't be needing this anymore either." She removed the keys and left her small apartment.

Starsky had just turned the corner when they saw Judith about to get into her car. Starsky pulled the Torino behind her car so she couldn't leave. Hutch was the first one to get out of the car followed closely by Starsky. Hutch pulled out his badge and showed it to Judith. "Hi, Judith, remember me?"

"You're Ken. I met you last night at Fever. You're officers?"

Hutch grinned. "Yeah, we are."

"Why are you here?"

Starsky flashed her that loveable half sided grin of his, "Well, you see we wanted to apologize to you."

"Apologize to me, for what?"

"Last night we were working on a case," Hutch stated.

"Undercover," Starsky added.

"And well, uh, I feel like I was not…I'm sorry I didn't ask you to dance with me," Hutch said stammering over his words.

Starsky, who felt more comfortable around the ladies, gently took Judith's hand and said, "We'd like to make it up to you. Will you go out with us tonight?"

"Tonight? Me? You're both asking me out?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Hutch said.

Judith felt weak in the knees and almost collapsed. Starsky grabbed her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Tonight, are you sure you want to go out with me?"

"Judith," Starsky said looking straight into her eyes, "You're an attractive young woman, of course we're sure." He leaned closer and whispered, "I've got a bet with Hutch that you'll like me more."

Judith chuckled, "What…time should I meet you?"

"We'll pick you up here, at seven. And uh, we're not going to Fever. I'm over disco," Hutch said.

"Where are we going then?"

Starsky was still holding her hand and kissed it, "Where would the Mademoiselle like to go?"

"I…um…I don't know?"

Hutch grinned, "Well you think about it." Hutch leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Judith blushed and walked back inside the apartment. She was smiling, and for the first time in a long time she felt happy. She knew she couldn't go through with her plans now. She had to get ready for her date. She had two nice, good-looking men that were going to pick her up. She peeked out of the curtain as she watched the red Torino drive away. She could hardly hold in her excitement and was almost shaking. "I can't wait until eight." She headed to her room and opened the closet, "What should I wear. Where do I want to go?"

Starsky opened his door and looked at Hutch, "I'm tellin' ya, Hutch, she's more my type than yours."

"I don't know about that, Starsk. Did you see the way she looked at me when I kissed her?"

"She was just being polite."

"We'll see about that tonight at eight."

Starsky and Hutch were at Judith's promptly at eight. They both knocked on the door. Judith opened it, "Hi," she said nervously.

"Have you decided where'd you like to go tonight?" Starsky asked.

"Yes. I believe I'd like to go for a walk along the shore," she quickly added, "If that's alright with you guys."

They both grinned. "That sounds like a wonderful idea," Hutch said at the same time Starsky said, "Sounds good to me."

Starsky took a hold of Judith's left arm and Hutch took her right as they walked to the car.

Judith had a wonderful evening with Starsky and Hutch and it gave her a new outlook on life. The three of them walked on the beach for a while then had a nice dinner after which, they went back on the beach. Starsky rolled up his pant legs and handed Hutch his shoes. Hutch scowled but held them. Judith removed her black pumps and Hutch graciously held them too. He watched as Judith and Starsky ran into the water. Hutch smiled when she kicked water on his partner. Starsky playfully bent down and splashed water on her.

The moon was full and Hutch marveled at how it made the water take on a silver appearance. He could see the ripples that were made. Hutch loved nature any of any kind but the ocean was his favorite. He shut his eyes and listened to the gentle sound of waves hitting the shore. He heard the laughter of Starsky and Judith. It made him happy to hear Starsky laugh and he smiled.

It was two before Judith was brought back home. Starsky and Hutch both walked her to her door and both kissed her on the cheek before she went inside. She closed the door and twirled around and smiled. Before she fell asleep, she felt like life was worth living again. She had a new sense of self worth and knew that she would never go down that dark path she was headed toward that morning.

She awoke to the sound of the phone ringing "Hello," she answered.

"Hi, Sis, I tried to call you last night but you never answered, is everything alright?"

"Everything is sooo alright. I had a date with two gentlemen."

"Two men, really?"

"Why, is that so unbelievable?"

"It's not that. It's just that it's not like you to go out with two men on the same night."

Judith laughed, "I guess it isn't. I actually went out with them at the same time." She went to explain what they did on the date. She talked to her sister for a long time. She finally opened up and told her sister everything she had been feeling the past few months. She felt a lot better by the time she hung up.

Starsky and Hutch both saw Judith alone over the next few weeks. She enjoyed their company but realized that she saw them more as brothers than lovers. She decided that the best thing for her to do would be to move to New York to stay with her sister a while.

Judith was sitting at a bar at the Pits when Starsky and Hutch walked in. Starsky sat on her left and Hutch sat on her right. "Hi guys."

"Hi beautiful," Starsky said.

Judith took a sip of her drink and took a deep breath. "I need to tell you both something."

"Okay," Hutch said.

"That morning when you showed up at my place and apologized I was feeling very down." Hutch started to say something but she cut him off, "Please, let me finish. I was going to drive off the bridge that day. Then you two showed up. You saved me from myself."

"I had no idea," Starsky mumbled just loud enough for her to hear him.

Judith smiled, "It's okay. I'm okay now. I just need to take some time and get away from all of this."

"You're going to New York aren't you?" Hutch asked.

She nodded and took a sip of her drink. "I wanted to tell you myself. I've really enjoyed the past few weeks.

"When are you leaving?" Starsky asked.

"Couple of days. I have a few things to do first."

One month later, Hutch checked his mail and noticed a letter from Judith among the junk mail and bills. He unlocked his door and opened the letter. He read it aloud.

'Dear Hutch,

I can never repay you and Starsky for what you did for me. I want to let you know that I am truly happy. In fact I'm happier than I have ever been. Shortly after I moved here I found a wonderful job. I work for a company that matches people with jobs. I also found a wonderful man. We started dating a couple of weeks ago. It's too soon to know for sure, but he may be THE ONE. My life is so good.

Love,

Judith'

Hutch smiled and set the letter on the table. He picked up the phone and called Starsky to share the good news.


End file.
